Something Wicked
by MicHa3l.Ang3Lo
Summary: Stress and violent tendencies don't work together, everyone knows that, so did Hermione. She did her best to suppress those tendencies but when she is pushed to her limit, some things are bound to happen. Rated M for language and innuendo
1. Chapter 1

**September 2000**

Hermione Granger had been stressed out of her mind before, it was during that brief stint in their third year with all of her extra classes, and she saw a part of her that she did not like, the violent part. The moment she punched Malfoy's smug face, she wanted to do so again, to beat him into a bloody pulp, thankfully Harry and Ron was there, their presence powerful enough catalyst for her to clam, else she did not know what else would have happened then.

Armed with that knowledge she vowed to never again reach that breaking point, both to protect others as well as herself.

After the war, it had been a very busy time for the golden trio, all three of them went to serve the Ministry, only until Hogwarts could be reopened and she could continue her schooling and search for her parents.

Her parents who she brainwashed for the people she loved, for Harry and Ron, so she could end this war and protect them and if she died to spare them the pain. Both Harry and Ron went with her, back when she wasn't too busy with Ministry files, papers and amendments, the three of them went to Australia, but sadly that lead went nowhere.

All of their inquiries led to one thing, after she sent them there they left, the disturbing thing? One that she hid from her best friends? Was that they had been arrested, again and again, been sent to a mental institution twice and killed enough orderlies for a mass breakout.

She couldn't believe it at first, but she remembered her own tendencies for violence and questioned herself and her parents. Something must have triggered this great change in their attitudes, she feared even that she was the cause. Those memory charms she placed could it be those that broke their minds? No, she couldn't think that, if she did she was bound to lose _her _mind.

The police files did say where they were going though, a city in the States, Gotham or something or another.

No, she would not dwell on that yet, it could have been anything really, no, she had to focus on the task at hand, the ministry files she needed to process.

These were the changes she wanted to instill in their society and she was not about to lose all of the progress she had made because she couldn't handle the stress.

Being a heroine in a war for her best friend's life had many perks, she had Minister Shacklebolt's ear at all times, her fingers were in every department she wanted. Her ambition had been great, too great, Harry once said as he saw her going all out in her work, but she didn't mind him, she could always ease Harry's mind by simple acts like getting a drink with him and Ron or Ginny although those had been too far in between.

Now she wished she had listened to him and his advice to "calm the f- down," her best friend, Harry was always this eloquent, well it was too late for regrets, she tried to remedy it though.

Her plan was first to Surprise Ron, then they would go out tonight, watch a movie, get dinner and maybe even make love, it calmed her, these thoughts, she held on to it like a starving man and his last piece of bread. She tried to think of nothing else, in truth was she couldn't, if she did she was bound to lose her sanity and she didn't want that, no she had far too many things to do than go mad right now.

She went to the market before going home, trying to find a couple of things for tonight, a good bottle of wine perhaps? Or strawberries? Ron always liked those, or was it Harry? She couldn't recall.

Hermione apparated home after finding a good enough bottle of wine, a bag of strawberries (only the best she could find), and some chocolate, for fondue perhaps? She was giddy when she went up the stairs to the London flat they shared, she hoped to appease Ron, who she had been ignoring her for work this past week, Hermione dismissed it for his childish sulking that she turned him down for sex a week back since she had been so busy.

Food, sweets and wine was something he liked very much, as well as the smell of that soap she always used, Harry said he liked it too, "It suits you", he had said that one time he picked her and Ron up for a night in town.

Something was odd when she got home, for one the door was slightly ajar, she panicked at first, but, No, she thought, Ron was a good auror, he wouldn't let something passed their home wards, and didn't she draw the runes herself?

When she went and saw another oddity, there was a pair of Jimmy Choo's at the door, they weren't her size, Ron's shoes was there too, but he couldn't be home yet, could he?

She jumped at a hard thump that came from their bedroom, the floorboards creaked lightly beneath her, Ron liked those floors, it felt homey, he said.

The door opened at her light touch, and there he was, her beloved fiancé, her rock, foundation, her little helper through all the stress she'd been through, mid _fuck _with _Daphne Greengrass._

Ron probably heard the door open as he looked up from Daphne's ass and looked at her with a horrified look on his face, Daphne looked up too, and a look of impatience was on hers.

Something broke in her head than night for a moment the world stopped and the wheels in Hermione's head went into over drive.

"Why hello dears", Hermione said, in a voice dripping with sweetness, a broken bottle in hand, "Why so serious?"

Harry was going out of his mind, his best male friend was found hours ago in his London flat, along with a woman who none could identify as of yet since her face had been full of scars, sadly for her she was expected to live.

They were both expected to live.

He doubted that the woman was Hermione, for one her brown hair was not the right hue, how he knew that startled even him, second, the Hermione he knew would never be caught unawares in her own home, and he knew this for he tried once. Lastly he could not feel any connection with the woman, with Hermione there was always a spark, an unknown connection between them that existed, neither questioned this and they went on with their life like normal.

No, this woman was not Hermione, which somehow alarmed him even more for, if she wasn't the bushy haired Witch he loved who was she, what was she doing in Ron and Hermione's bed and where was Hermione?

Harry had left St. Mungo's hours before, trying to find any sign of his beloved friend, he tried the Burrow, the Ministry, Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, even Godric's Hollow.

All searches ended the same, now he was exhausted and ready to collapse as he entered #12, where he lived alone, Kreacher dying a year before and he had not opted to find a new house-elf. As always it was dark and homey, Ginny had practice in Hollyhead and hadn't come-over for over a week now, he didn't mind he wanted her to be happy and playing gave her that.

Harry wasn't even usually here, if he didn't have any prior engagements with Ron, Hermione or any other of their friends or cases from the Ministry he dabbled.

After the war, he couldn't find his niche, so he opted to travel and live on his parents' and Sirius' money, he traveled all around Europe though only staying a few days, then he'd come back to England for about a week, spend time with his friends and take off again.

Sure his life didn't have direction right now, nor did he have any goals other than enjoy life so he did.

He had spent a couple of week's once in Spain and learnt a little fencing, in a trip to Germany he got drunk every night for three days without knowing the reason why and he liked it. He even spent a month once with the Delacours, when Fleur and Bill went to visit; he had tagged along, entertaining his honorary nieces and nephew as well as Gabrielle who was still enamored with him.

Harry Potter's life was good, that was until today, his world came crashing down and almost instantaneously he brought the blade on himself. He filled his head with so much, _if only's _that it hurt to think so he shut himself down while he drank through a bottle of Firewhisky.

He drunkenly went up the stairs,saying goodnight to Sirius' mother for her to shriek aloud.

He stopped at the door of his room as he found a bloody hand print on it, his mind cleared in a moment and he had his wand in hand, a shield at his lips.

He opened the door cautiously, wincing at the long painful creaking noise it made, his bedside candle lit on its own, shedding a strong light around his room.

The blood stains continued on his floor, footprints, handprints only to end with a blood Hermione in the corner of his room.

Harry dropped his wand and was on Hermione in a second,

"Herms, Herms", he repeated, trying to coax her into response. Hermione only hugged him tightly, crushing him.

"What happened Herms?", he asked with difficulty.

"I-it w-wa-was aw-full Harry", she sobbed, in a baby voice.

"Who did it? Who hurt you like this?", He asked, perplexed, confused and concerned at the tone of her voice. She didn't answer however, just continued to sob and hum softly.

"Hermione, who hurt Ron an-", He tried to ask again.

"Of course I did Harry", she said, her eyes earnest, her mouth in a pout and her voice was sing-song again. Harry thought of taking her then, but quelled his thoughts for more serious matters when his mind registered her answer.

"Wh-what do you mean you did? Hermione, what do you mean?", He asked unbelieving.

"I was the one who hurt him Harry!", she screamed, then suddenly, with great force she had him on the bed, straddling him while holding his hands down painfully.

"Hermione, what's wrong with you?", He asked, not believing what she was saying and transpiring.

"He said I should smile more", she said, voice suddenly distant, only to contort into an evil grin, "I got home and he wasn't smiling! So just put a smile on HIS FACE, his EVERYWHERE!", she screamed again.

Harry could only stare at disbelief, wide eyed, his mind refused to process what was happening. At his lack of response Hermione only smiled, like a predator did before eating her prey, suddenly her lips was on him, kissing him, aggressively, possessively, she tasted like blood.

While distracted, Harry shifted his weight, and with a burst of adrenaline switched their positions.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you Hermione?", He asked, angrily.

"I know you want me Harry I can see it in your eyes", she said, serene until she saw the stony look on Harry's face.

"Why so serious Harry!", she snarled, "Why so SERIOUS!". Her wand was suddenly in her hands and a second later, she banished him to the other side of the room.

He crashed into an old armoire, dizzyingly he looked at Hermione, bloody and snarling, "Let's put a smile on that face of yours!", she screamed.

Harry, couldn't move his arms, it even hurt to breathe, he couldn't speak. Powerless he watched as Hermione found a piece of glass and said in a baby voice again, "Let me put a smile on you, Harry, I only want to see you smile".

"'Mi-one", he said weakly.

A flash of something spread on her face, a second later, as if she was fighting her body, she spun and ran, leaving Harry to his pain.

As he fell unconscious, the candle light faded with him.

**AN:**

**Yo! Good Afternoon people, this idea just came to mind a few days ago when I was reading a fic, it stuck to me and I just had to write it down, you can try and piece together the hints on what happened to Hermione's parents and what will happen to Hermione.**

**I think this could be considered as a one-shot or a teaser, I don't know, I might continue this if anyone likes it anyway, please review, tell me what you think, any mistakes I made, if I should continue or not, those kinds of things, right, later!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The things we do**

It had been two months, ten days and three hours since Hermione went off the reserve. He spent that time alternating searching for clues as to where she would go and accepting invitations from friends for his company, which he knew were thinly veiled attempts to make him cool off.

They all had their different styles to it actually. In the first few days, Bill invited him to shell cottage and taught him runes, ancient and rare runes, from strengthening and extending durability and impervious effects, it was interesting really and very helpful.

Ginny's strategy was to seduce him, which he shamefully had to admit worked every time. She also tried being around more often than usual, at times he felt happy about it, but most of the time it miffed him that it took Hermione to disappear for her to be around more.

Luna surprisingly tried the same tactics, although she was less obvious than Ginny and coupled her efforts with her special tendencies. However he couldn't put it in his heart to take advantage of her like that, and it seemed wrong somehow, but he always tried to get her dinner and spend time with her when he could be dragged from studying runes and searching for Hermione.

Seamus, Dean and Neville surprisingly had him alternating between drowning themselves with whisky sometimes literally, and pushing him to date female friends they found for him. He didn't go further than dinner and a few promises however; some time ago he wouldn't have a problem with dating these girls but right know he was fixated on a serious problem.

Harry was now currently re-reading Hermione's notes, on her amendments to the Wizarding laws, her search for her parents and her notes on her Transfiguration masteral.

All of them gave him an insight on what happened, in some parts, it began to be devoid of logic, others had many grammatical errors and even others had misplaces names, spells and places. It was all hard to trace which was supposed to go where.

Sometimes it unnerved him how easy it was for their friends to shrug off Hermione's fit as temporary and were so sure she'd be back soon. He however couldn't or wouldn't let it pass without at least doing something about it, he would try to help her, even if it would be the last thing he did.

Two more days later as he was about to go to the martial arts class he'd been going on and off to since the war to put off some steam Auror Tally, one of his trainees from his time at the ministry, a woman of average height, slim build like most magical people, having foregone physical development for intellectual and magical studies, arrived with some news.

"Harry!", the Auror shouted as she entered Harry's house.

"Up here!", he called from the study.

He could hear the loud thuds she made as she came up the stairs, waking Mrs. Black up in the process. She knocked then entered, still wearing her Auror robes.

"We've found something I think would be of use", she said breathlessly.

"Use? For my search?", he queried.

"Aye, I had it locked up where we found it in Ms. Granger's office, nobody but the Minister has entered and he left it as is, I've had forensics examine our scans and have found nothing, I think there's something there for your eyes only though".

"Alright take me there then", he said, standing.

"Alright, you know you should really get a floo connection, it's a pain trying to contact you", she complained jokingly.

"Tals, I'm never here, I don't see why I would bother and for future reference, I hate the floo", He replied jovially, the previous news helping his mood.

"Alright then Mr. I'll-fly-everywhere-with-my-Firebolt, which you haven't let me borrow yet by the way", she finished with a teasing tone.

"Oh, don't worry Tals, you'll get a turn on the broom, when hell freezes over", he added with a wink.

"Prat", was all she said.

The walk to Hermione's office passed in companionable silence.

"Alright Harry, this is where we'll be parting, we know this is a personal favor from the minister but, try not doing anything illegal eh?", she said before walking away.

Entering the room Harry noticed the oddities right away; Hermione's usually spotless office was very messy. Papers were scattered on the floor, souvenirs from vacation spots once carefully lined up on shelves were now on the floor, except for a few pieces he didn't recognize.

Strangely one of the pieces was a canister with a smiley face painted on it and marked in purple paint "made in Gotham", and another was a small flashlight, that had a small bat painted in it. He simply shrugged and took a step toward the messy desk.

Taking out his wand he levitated each one and examined them, initially he thought something was off along six of the papers there was an inconsistency in Hermione's handwriting. Something that she never did or had trouble doing.

Luckily for him each paper was dated; he took those and placed them on the now clean desk.

Harry was lucky that his Auror days and Quidditch training helped him notice things that were not supposed to be there. He was also thankful that he knew Hermione's hand-writing well enough to spot the inconsistencies.

July 6th, an A which was miswritten, June 1st, had a G written in different ink, August 2nd, an O that was misplaced, January 3rd, a T written in a lower case whereas it should be uppercased, February 4th, an H which was slanted and on the September 5th paper an M shaped wrong.

Following the date of the month each was written it spelled THGAOM, which did not make sense.

Perplexed he took the notes which contained the letters as well as any paper that may help solve this mystery in a bag he found lying around and apparated home.

Once in his office he locked the door, enlarging a side of his wall he pinned each of the papers in random order, the marked ones he pinned on a separate board underneath was a whiteboard where he wrote THGAOM. He poured himself a glass of scotch and took out an arithmacy book, if he knew Hermione an answer would be written in a book somewhere.

-XxX(Scene Break)XxX-

She didn't know where she was at the moment but it felt familiar and familiarity was something she needed right now. It was deafeningly quiet except for a few thuds from faraway. She tried remembering where she was, what she did, how she got here.

She remembered running from Grimauld place, then an office, was it hers? No, someone else's? Her head hurt. A flash of red and she was in front of a huge tent, a fun house? Yes, that was it she came to from apparating internationally. She remembered passing out and waking up. That was it.

What was her name again? Harleen? No, wasn't that mother's name? No, she wasn't sure.

Her name was Hermione, Hermione-something.

She reached inside her blazer and found a stick, it felt familiar to her, yes, a part of her even. It was a wand, her wand, she was a witch, studied in, Hogs-screws? No matter.

Quite suddenly the door slammed open and a woman, who looked no older than 40 entered wearing something that seemed to be a cross between a hooker and a clown.

"Mornin' Shnukums!", the woman said in an overly sweet voice. "Oh goody you're up, daddy was wonderin', I'm glad I don't have to use my hammer on yah, come on puddin'".

She didn't pay her any mind as every little syllable made her want to split her head.

"Wat-sa-matta baby?", she asked, finally noticing the younger woman's discomfort. The woman knelt down and simply hugged her close to her chest and sung, "Hush little baby, don't say a word momma's gonna kill for ya the whole damn world…"

She felt overly comfortable with this woman, she thought as she let her rock her back and forth singing her tune.

-XxX(Scene Break)XxX-

He wasn't sure what time it was but it was probably late. This wasn't the first time he'd drunk and studied only to fall asleep, usually it was on runes or on the rare occasion on a book on muggle science.

As he moved towards the door the scotch bottle that sat precariously from a pile of books on his desk toppled slightly before falling, his reflexes thankfully kicking up caught it before it fell.

You don't get a priceless crystal scotch bottle in the mail every day, it was something of a yearly thing, and he didn't know if people thought he'd be worse and worse at stopping his liquor intake year after year. Harry simply set the bottle down on the desk along with the notes, shuffling them a bit and headed to his bed.

-XxX(Scene Break)XxX-

Bruce Wayne sat in front of his computer in the cave underneath his mansion which most of his wards call the "bat cave", which was he thought very appropriate as it had housed a large number of bats. They had been a source of terror for him during his childhood, but now they were a symbol that Gotham criminals have learned to fear.

With his son Damian tucked in to bed earlier that evening with the promise of not patrolling Gotham without him he opted to spend his time watching the streets through the many security cameras Wayne enterprises had installed.

For once, the streets were quiet, there was no crime except for a few muggings here and there, nothing Barbara couldn't handle, he thought. Rather than be thankful for this it had him worried, his rogue gallery had been quiet, most still stowed away in Arkham but he knew some were on the loose. "Harleen Quinzel" was released a week ago due to "good" behavior and had yet to spring the Joker, he had the "Fun house" rigged with security cams already but it was yet to be triggered.

Richard was in college, although he and Damian had bumped into him the other night as Nightwing, which comforted him as it was a sign that all was well.

Bruce continued to stare at the different screens as he felt himself getting tired. Satisfied that all would be well for the night he retired to his bedroom.

The next day, Bruce woke early at six, after showering and changing he goes into Damian's room only to find it empty. Before jumping into the worst possible conclusions he heard Alfred chastising someone, he walked downstairs, hoping it was Damian.

He reached the kitchen to find Damian's plate loaded with various desserts and his butler Alfred scolding a defiant looking Damian.

"Master Damian, as I have said a hundred times before it is too early in the day to be eating only junk", Alfred said, in his scolding tone.

"This is what I want! What do you care?", Yelled Damian childishly.

"A young growing boy needs a nutritious and balanced meal, do you think your father would still be standing today if I let him eat _sweets _for breakfast?", the butler replied sarcastically.

"I am not father and I need the sugar to survive this dratted place you call school!", the boy argued.

"No, no, and for the final time No! No sweets for breakfast", said Alfred with finality as he took Damian's plate and threw its contents in the sink.

As Alfred did this Damian took out a shuriken and threw it at the butler with great precision, worried, Bruce was about to rush and catch the star, but before he could, Alfred pivoted and deflected the weapon using a fork, embedding it in the opposite wall.

"That is it, Master Damian there will be no dessert for a month!", Alfred exclaimed, finally miffed at the boy's childishness and violence.

"Damian, apologize to Alfred", said Bruce, in a calm tone, losing his temper at his son at this stage would not be very helpful at the moment, he thought.

His actions finally dawning on him Damian stared at the floor and mumbled an apology and turned to go inside.

"His violent temperaments are still getting worse", Bruce finally said as he sensed Damian's presence going scarce, removing the throwing star from the wall.

"Yes, but not to worry Master Bruce, I am quite sure you'll get through to him in time", said Alfred, discounting Damian's actions earlier.

"I hope so Alfred", Bruce sighed as he took a seat and piled some eggs and ham on his plate.

"Although I have to comment that neither Master Jason nor Master Richard were this stubborn when it came to sweets", said the butler turning his back at Bruce and starting on the dishes.

"Well neither Dick nor Jason had Talia as a mother for twelve years did they?" he asked rhetorically, and noted a bitter taste in his mouth as he ate.

-XxX(Scene Break)XxX-

Harry rubbed his eyes furiously as the sun woke him at noon, dragging himself up and stretching, popping a few bones in the process, he went to take a shower and start his day again.

The need for muscle activity during the war, and while training with the Auror corps Ingrained in him the need to exercise, so he did a few pushups and pull ups before taking a bit of breakfast then proceeded to lock himself in his office to decipher the code hidden on the papers.

Keeping the scotch bottle from last night he sat back down, opening the Arithmacy text he started reading about different numerical combinations, thinking that if the month order was not the clue the number beside it was.

The thought of rearranging the letters corresponding the numbers didn't occur to him however as he tried to seek any number combinations written in the text that may help him in any way possible.

-()—Skip—()—

It was very late when Harry closed the book shut, not finding anything even a bit helpful for the case, rather than taking up another bottle from his cellar though, he wrote the dates on separate pieces of parchment.

Almost idly he floated the pieces of parchment in front of him in different arrangements, trying to at least find some sense from the letters.

First up, **M-A-T-H-O-G**, which he couldn't find any reference to in each text he had read so far, he switched them again.

The second time the letters formed, **H-O-G-M-A-T, **which left him even more confused. The third, fourth and fifth tries did not yield much either, neither did the sixth, the seventh however formed a word which was very familiar.

The thought stuck on his mind as he sipped a butterbeer, while Kreacher prepared dinner for him. Feeling a bit put out and frustrated for not remembering where he read that word he reached for the muggle paper. He almost dropped the bottle as he stared at the front page, the word staring right back at him.

-()—Scene Break—()-

Batman was having a stressful night, someone from Joker's gang had just released a new type of gas in the upper east end of Gotham, and he had yet to find the culprit, as well as finding the person responsible for somehow getting Two-face to recklessly charge him like this.

Harvey's file didn't match his actions right now, for one his coin was nowhere to be found and two his second persona was gone, what was left was a reckless brawler of a man. His thugs have been dealt with and Robin was dealing with the leftovers. Interrogating Dent while fighting was proving harder however, since he didn't even seem capable of speech, he'd been growling most of the night if he did speak his voice was somehow dead and robotic, but he was sure this was the real deal.

He dodged a haymaker and countered with an elbow to the gut, hitting him square in the sternum, although he looked pained he still stood, something or someone was controlling Harvey Dent and he needed to know who it was before they upset the delicate balance he had in his city.

-()—Scene Break—()-

Harry packed his things, wearing a leather trench coat he'd been modifying with runes since Bill taught him how, with basic protection spells from the elements. It was mostly based from WWW's protection garments with a bit more kick, but he wasn't expecting trouble he could handle. He just needed to get Hermione and get out as quickly as possible.

He looked back into the old house and hastily left, his flight to Gotham City was leaving in an hour.


End file.
